Lisa Kudrow Still Makes A Jaw-Dropping Amount Of Money From Friends

It’s been more than two decades since Friends aired its finale, but Lisa Kudrow has now shared that she’s still getting a bag for her time on the beloved sitcom.

In a recent interview with The Times, Kudrow, who played zany and free-spirited Phoebe Buffay, revealed that she and her fellow co-stars still earn $20 million in residuals every year.

During the first season of Friends, the cast members were each paid $22,500 per episode, but by the end of the show, they each were earning $1 million per episode. Their real-life friendship was purportedly a major factor in negotiating their contracts — Kudrow led the discussions to help secure higher paychecks for all of them.

As a result of that, she, alongside cast mates Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox, would quickly become the highest-paid television actresses in the world at the time.

The heartwarming sitcom has remained dear to younger generations, who still watch Friends on streaming platforms. When asked why she thinks she still earns so much from the show, Kudrow joked, “Because Phoebe Buffay was so great?”

Kudrow, who was the first cast member to win an Emmy for her performance, also said that she rewatched the show just after co-star Matthew Perry passed away in 2023. He was 54 years old.

“Before, I only saw what I did wrong or could have done better,” she continued. “But for the first time, I truly appreciated just how great it was. I felt I did OK, but Jennifer and Courteney? Amazing. David and Matt? They had me laughing so hard. And then Matthew — he was just beyond us all.”

Friends ran for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004 and quickly became one of the highest-grossing television shows of all time. Since then, Kudrow has appeared in several other projects, like BoJack Horseman, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and The Comeback.